Perhaps because my grandparents lived in a small town we weren't used to going to the doctor that often. I can envision my grandfather pouring alcohol on wounds from farm work and bandaging them up himself. Maybe we just didn't get sick that often. There were many low cost, over the counter products that seemed to keep us in check. Choices from the medicine cabinet besides rubbing alcohol (which we poured in our ears after swimming in lakes) included:

---Milk of Magnesia in the bright blue bottle for acid stomach, indigestion, constipation, and in a pinch for mosquito bites;
---Tums tablets in a little green roll or tube. My grandmother always had these in her purse. We didn't know that 50 years later doctors would recommend Tums as a calcium supplement;
---Coca Cola Syrup was a concentrated version of a coke soda, taken by the spoonful for nausea and stomach upsets;
---Pepto-Bismol, the thick pink liquid with that distinctive sweet/chalky taste was for nausea and diarrhea;

---Baking Soda was the first toothpaste my mother used. Besides putting a box in the refrigerator to keep it smelling fresh, we used it for sour stomach, as a paste for wasp stings and mosquito bites, and to soak aching feet;
---Ginger Ale was our favorite thing for upset stomachs;
​---Bayer Children's Aspirin had a sweet, orange flavor that was so good parents were eventually warned to keep the bottles out of the reach of children;
​---Terpin Hydrate was a wicked cough medicine;

---Sucrets were great tasting sea glass blue sore throat lozenges. My mother kept a rectangular tin box in her purse. I used these a lot with frequent bouts of tonsillitis. The formula has changed and that original flavor is gone;
---Oil of Cloves was used sparingly for toothaches. I was surprised to recognize the taste in my recent temporary dental filling;
---Vicks VapoRub reminds me of my grandfather who put some of the sticky salve on his chest and a dab in each nostril if he had a cold coming on. I used it on my kids and granchild, too. It's very warming and comforting and love the smell;
---Epsom Salt could be used as a laxative but I remember my dad using it to soak his hand to draw out a deeply embedded thorn;

---Dramamine was our go to for car sickness which my mother and I experienced frequently. The side effect was that we slept through most of our trips;
---Calamine Lotion was thick and pink and got all over your clothes but we used it for mosquito bites, stings, and sunburn;
---Vinegar was especially good to take the sting out of a sunburn but no one wanted to be near you after you were doused;
---Witch Hazel was for bags under your eyes, pimples and oily skin and scalp, sunburn, after shave, and hemorrhoids;

---Merthiolate, Mercurochrome, and Iodine were bright red-orange staining liquids painted on cuts and scrapes with the included glass dropper. They stung terribly and your skin was discolored for days. Also used for athlete's foot. Merthiolate and Mercurochrome contained mercury and were taken off the US market in the 90s. Merthiolate has made a comeback without mercury and in a clear liquid;
---Gentian Violet was for ringworm, a fungal infection and not a 'worm' although the infection began as a small circle and seemed to grow larger and larger. Your skin was bright purple for weeks and I speak from experience;
---Peroxide was lots of fun to see bubbling up on cuts, as a mouth rinse, and ear wax cleaner.

Other medicinals were traditional like honey for a cough, warm salt water gargles for a sore throat, and of course chicken soup for a cold. My grandfather occasionally used mustard plasters on his chest for congestion and he even added a little turpentine to the mix. Ammonia could be used for insect bites.

Medicines were not in child-proof containers and all these items were easily accessible, especially if stored in the medicine cabinet. You know, that place with the straight edge razor and blades.  

​                                       "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine."  Proverbs 17:22

Manufactured paper dolls date back to the early 1800s. Many publishers found the addition of the paper dolls boosted sales. In times when funds were low and children's toys were an extravagance, paper dolls filled the need. In the '50s McCall's magazine's Betsy McCall not only aided sales of the magazine itself but of their line of accompanying sewing patterns.

I played with several paper doll sets back in the '50s and '60s. Marge and Gower Champion, dancers from Broadway and movie musicals, was a set my mother was excited for me to have. I didn't really know who the couple were but I enjoyed dressing both a girl and a boy figure. Cutting out the pieces was a pain, and if not done carefully you might snip off the wrap-around flap that held the paper costume to the cardboard doll. They stood up by means of a folded flap in the back or by fitting the bottom into a triangular platform wedge. Playing with the paper dolls required a lot of "self-talk" conversation with me speaking for the characters as I moved them around my room to a dance, the soda shop, a party, etc. Sometimes a girlfriend would come over and we would each choose a specific doll to "control." Being in charge of the doll was a power skill we young girls cultivated, deciding who was wearing what and where they were going. There were many accessories to go with the outfits such as purses, hats, gloves, shoes, and even pets. It was a great mix and match game.

My favorite set was Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind. She could be dressed in the summery print gown or the famous green curtain outfit. She had bonnets, mufflers, and parasols. 

Other familiar paper dolls sets were kewpies, Shirley Temple, Betsy McCall, Doris Day, and Jane Powell. I remember Jane Powell because I was surprised to find a schoolmate with the same name. 

Various character paper dolls were often inserts in magazines and newspapers. Over time the dolls were printed on paper that was perforated around the designs allowing you to remove them easily rather than having to cut them out. Eventually the modern sets were "magic" thin cling-on vinyl that could be applied and removed repeatedly without permanently sticking.

Those cling-ons remind me of the dress up weather segment on the popular pre-school tv show Romper Room. The teacher asked for a volunteer to come up and change the weather stick-ons, adding the sun or clouds, coats or umbrellas. I always wished to be that person, and to be in her good do-bee magic mirror. If you recall the teacher said a prayer before the kids ate their milk and cookies.